Moistening means for planographic printing machines



06L 1953 A. SOUTH Y 54,314 MOISTENING MEANS FOR PLANOGRA 1c PRINTING MACHI Filed Aug. 8, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 "fig. 5.

Oct. 6, 1953 SQUTHWAY 2,654,314

I MQISTENING MEANS FOR PLANOGRAPHIC PRINTING MACHINES Filed Aug. 8, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 6, 1953 A SQUTHWAY 2,654,314

MOISTENING MEANS FOR PLANOGRAPHIC PRI NT'ING MACHINES Filed Aug 8 1950 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Oct. 6, 1953 MOI 'I 'NG S OB- ILANQGBAIHI f I T N A IN Ar hur .Sout wa kenham, Eng and, s n r tolt- Hoe & C In q Y rk, N, X 7 a corporation of New York Application August'8, 1950, Serial No. 178,256 In Great Britain August'l'fl, 1949 2 l ims. 1

This inve r tiohrelates to print n machines oi the kind using plano sah rint n sur aees whi h have pr ntin are s of su h na ure as to refuse to ta mo sture u h as an. eiel eeted water) but t c ept inls an hon prihti a eas f such a nature as o assent the m sture but to efuse to acoep the nk The psi; ins and non-printing areas o suc pla es are at the s me or at substantial y the same level as om ar s with rel ef and ihtagli printin surfaces h depend on d ffe ence of evel etw en the r ntns and ho -pr nting reas.

In such laho raph-ie pri n a hine he moistening meoha i m arra d to a ply moistu e to the printing sti -the o er th hole o its pri ting and BQB-QI-Hitil areas rior to th passin of t e s rfa e to the in}: applyi ec @315 T e main obieet o h s nven n s o p v/isle e moisteh he rran m nt which ill e able the mo stenihs arran ement to be ea ily adapted to suit pri tin surfac s of t iereht extents, hich w l nable the m ture s b a l ed uniform y to the u f ce wh h, a y p r t eula rintin operat on is qui ed to h m ise an which will so enable re u atio s! t e quantity of m sture so a plied to e read y e fected to sui the dif eren requ re ents hich arise in such printing.

Ac ord n to o teeture of th p esent ilWQllon he m isteh ne mechan sm includ s a th efiect the various rows of bristles wo lgi each semble the bristles of a long narrow brush,

According to a further feature of the invenfrom the various rows of strips are made up by senarate removable sectional len ths so that the total efieetive len th of the rows can v rietito suit the extent (-1. e. the ileh th o any oa -t e: u-isr printing surface to he moi t ned,-

component is so dispos d relat on to moisture duct and a distribut on teller that as the component is r tated it carries the row oi strips successively firstly int he trou h to ic up mo sture and then into conta t with the-her-iphery .of a distribution roller to d osit mois ure thereon. H

The invention zillustratediii the accompany:

2 ing 'erawings in which Figure 1 is a diagram: matic side elevation of the kind of machine with which the invention is concerned, and Figures 2:- 6 are detail views :of the mechanism according to the invention,

Figure 2 is a side elevation partly in section,

Figure 3 is a section on the line IIIRIII ure 2,

Figure 4 is a local plan view looking in the direction of the arrow IV Fieure .3,

Figure 5 is a detail view, and

Figure 6 a detail section :on line Fi ure 2.

Referring to the drawings, and considering firstly Figure 1, which shows a particulartform of planographic printing machine selected to illust a e a typical ap lication o t invention, ther are m yed to m e nelers .I carryin pla era h c p intin shrieees, eaeh-o hhder havin assoc ated with it n inking mechanism 2 o a y ohveniiohalformehd amoi. r motioh The mo sture motion applies moisture to the fo m o t e y nder i befo e th f rm is arri d by retati n of t e cylinder to the kin mechanism 2 in a m riner Well underst od in th rintin rt.- The nked im e on he term is then :trans ferred to the surface to be printed, this Surface as b in in t e te m of a we 4. Th

tr t r f the ima e t th web can be di e t e form on the c l nder 4 Or as h wn he sitet me ho be emplo ed by which th a plies t a ansfer cylinder :5 wh h ta es he ih seo ima e from the in er 1 and transfers it to the web 4. In the particular are-.- rahsement shown the web :4 pass s between h tw t ansfer h inders 5 so that the w b is mim s he e l-iheier :3-

Roi ehee w l now he made to Fi ures 2-6 i li ts-ate the enio sture motion of this in ve tiehm on comp es s p rt n bod in he orm of a so hsiie 15 su ee eel to rotate shihsile i3 s isposed s ithat, as-the o .dlero 1 tate strips sii o ssively firstly into the fountain 6 to pick up moisture and then into contact with the roller 7 to deposit moisture thereon, the moisture so deposited being taken through the distribution consisting of the rollers 1 and 8 to the form on the cylinder I.

The setting of the spindle 9 with respect to the roller 1 would be such that (as the bristles ll sweep into engagement with its periphery) they are sprung or flexed back along their length and shape themselves to the shape of the roller. Thus the bristles II have a wiping engagement with the periphery of the distributing roller 1 and it is thought that this exerts a spreading action on the moisture applied and so tends to promote uniformity in the application of moisture.

The various strips can be disposed radially of the spindle 9, but inorder to minimize any tendency for the strips to spring and to fling moisture as their ends leave the roller, it may be desirable to arrange the strips as shown most clearly in Figure 3 so that they are tangential to a circle of rotation of the spindle, the root ends of the strips leading the free ends as they sweep round with the rotation of the spindle 9.

In general the rows of bristles or other strips would extend lengthwise parallel with the axis of rotation of the spindle 9 but they could if desired extend helically with respect to that axis.

The bristles or other strips would be carried by supporting bars 12 which are themselves cletachably mounted on the spindle 9 so that the bars can be readily removed for the cleaning of the strips or for replacement by other bars having'it may be strips of difi'erent characteristics.

Preferably and as shown the bars 12 are made up in sectional lengths each having its own strips. By this means the total length of a composite bar could be built-up to correspond to the size of printing surface to be moistened. This avoids the difficulties commonly encountered in supplying an excess of moisture which is not absorbed in the printing operation where the printing surface is smaller in length than the maximum for which the moistening arrangement is designed. 4

The various bar sections I2 could be arranged to be sprung individually into position for which purpose the spindle 9 has fitted to its spaced blocks or carrying members 13 to which are secured open spring clips l4 dimensioned to en able the ends of the sectional bars l2 to be sprung into position.

' It will be clear that the removal of sectional lengths enables the moistening mechanism to be rendered inactive over a corresponding length in picking up moisture and consequently provides in eifect a simple variable length arrangement readily adaptable to printing surfaces of diiferent lengths.

l The construction of the present invention enables variation in the quantity of moisture applied for any given length of printing surface to be effected in a number of ways to suit requirements. One variable factor consists in the extent of immersion of the strips in the moisture-supply fountin 6 and this factor can be varied easily by variation in the level in the duct or by varying the height of the duct relative to the axis of the spindle 9 and both adjustments would be governed by selection of the length of the bristles H or other strips employed. Another variable factor is the speed at which the spindle 9- is driven and this can be varied by a number of methods of which a variable speed electric motor is the most convenient, this motor driving the strip-carrying component either independently of press-speed or at a speed which is related to but capable of a variation proportional or otherwise of the press-speed.

Such a variable speed drive is shown in the drawings in which the spindle 9 is coupled to a shaft [5 driven through gearings It by an electric motor I? of the variable speed type by control of which the speed of rotation of the spindle 9 (and hence the rate of pick up of moisture by the bristles H) can be varied.

As is shown in the drawings, the shaft [5 can be turned by a hand-wheel 18 which is connected to the shaft by a ratchet drive l9 so that the shaft it? can over-run the coupling to the motor I! when the hand-wheel is turned.

Again, the setting of the axis of rotation of the spindle 9 with respect to the axis of rotation of the roller 1 can be varied to regulate the amount to which the bristles H or other strips wrap themselves about the periphery of the roller and this again would depend upon the length of the bristles.

An arrangement to effect this is shown in the drawing wherein the bearings ill of the spindle 9 are carried at the outer ends of arms 29 mounted on a shaft 21 supported for angular movement in the main frames 22 of the machine. This shaft 2! has at one end an adjustment arm 23 which can be rocked by an adjusting screw 24, the resulting movement of the arm 23 regulating the distance between the axis of the spindle 9 and the axis of the roller 7.

In order to enable drive to be transmitted to the spindle 9 from the shaft 15 despite the various positions to which the spindle 9 can be moved, the drive connection between the spindle and shaft is established by securing an arm 25 to the shaft l5,'by securing a similar arm 26 to the spindle 9 and by providing one of the arms with a driving pin 21 which'enters a driving slot 28 in the other arm. 7

The roller 2' referred to can be the usual metal roller which is reciprocated and the form roller 8 which runs in engagement with the actual planographic printing surface would be covered with an absorbent fabric. In some cases however it may be desirable to interpose between the pick-up spindle 9 (or more precisely the bristles II) and the metal roller '1 an additional fabriccovered roller which receives moisture from the bristles and transfers it to the roller 1'.

The invention is obviously capable of application for use with a planographic printing machine having a flat printing plate as well as with one as shown having a printing plate curved about a printing cylinder.

I claim:

1. In a planographic printing machine a moistening mechanism comprising in combination a fountain for moisture, a distributing roller and a moisture pick-up device comprising a spindle rotatable about an axis parallel with that of the roller, a series of rows of bristles secured at their root ends to supporting bars detachably held on members secured on the spindle, means adjustably supporting the spindle so that its rotation carries the rows of bristles through the foun tain and into wiping engagement with the roller and permitting movement of the spindle transversely of its axis, and a coupling device drivingly connecting the spindle with a variable speed driving device secured in fixed position on the machine.

2. A moistening mechanism for a planographic printing machine including in combination a fountain, a distributing roller, and a moisture pick up device comprising a spindle rotatable about an axis parallel to that of the roller, carrying members secured to the spindle, supporting bars each holding a row of bristles, spring clips secured to the carrying members and shaped to detachably hold the bars and position the bristles to engage the distributing roller when the spindle is rotated, movable bearings for adjusting the spindle toward and away from the distributing roller, and means for driving the spindle including a shaft supported generally in alignment with the spindle, a bearing for the shaft mounted in a fixed position and a coupling device associated with the shaft and providing means for driving the spindle by rotating the shaft.

ARTHUR SOUTHWAY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 15 Number Name Date Hoe June 6, 1916 Keller Dec. 31, 1918 Smith Feb. 8, 1927 Congdon Aug. 9, 1927 Alger Nov. 4, 1930 Tornberg Dec. 16, 1930 Roesen June 2, 1942 Emmer Feb. 22, 1944 Faber et a1 Jan. 1, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Norway Sept. 2, 1943 

